Podcast: Boaty McBoatface and Trolling of Government on Social Media, Plus Countdown to #GSMCON2016

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COUNTDOWN TO #GSMCON2016

Our little Twitter contest — Your Question Could be Your Ticket to #GSMCON2016 — netted a number of great questions, all of which we'll be answering during a special live recording of GovTech Social's next episode. You'll also meet the scholarship winner live on stage in Reno, Nev.

But that's getting ahead of ourselves. There is an entire episode to listen to before we get there.

SHOW NOTES

Podcast regulars Dustin Haisler, Paul Taylor, Anil Chawla and Eyragon Eidam announce the winner of the #GovTechSocial contest for a scholarship to the second annual Government Social Media Conference in Reno, and preview GSMCON2016. They also discuss the social media lessons to be learned from another contest — the British government's naming of a $287 million polar research ship. The Internet's choice — Boaty McBoatface — is the latest in a (proud?) tradition of trolling government online.

The hosts also explore the unique use case of Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART). The agency flipped rider complaints about late and broken trains to draw attention to a systemwide crisis.

Also on this episode, using Twitter to predict activism, protesting and likelihood to vote for this or that presidential candidate.

Paul W. Taylor, Ph.D., is the editor-at-large of Governing magazine. He also serves as the chief content officer of e.Republic, Governing’s parent organization, as well as senior advisor to the Governing Institute. Prior to joining e.Republic, Taylor served as deputy Washington state CIO and chief of staff of the state Information Services Board (ISB). Dr. Taylor came to public service following decades of work in media, Internet start-ups and academia. He is also among a number of affiliated experts with the non-profit, non-partisan Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) in Washington, D.C.

Dustin Haisler is the Chief Innovation Officer of Government Technology's parent company e.Republic. Previously the finance director and later CIO for Manor, Texas, a small city outside Austin, Haisler quickly built a track record and reputation as an early innovator in civic tech. As Chief Innovation Officer, Haisler has a strategic role to help shape the company’s products, services and future direction. Primarily, he leads e.Republic Labs, a market connector created as an ecosystem to educate, accelerate and ultimately scale technology innovation within the public sector. Read his full bio.

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